The Heart 7/07

Saturday, July 28, 2007
The "Heart" Current mood: contemplative

The minor league baseball season ended for me last week. Yes. I am a baseball mom. My son came to me in late May and informed me that he wanted to play baseball in the same league with a bunch of his friends. This was great news! He hadn't played little league baseball in 3 years. He has a natural ability but hadn't quite decided to embrace it. Until today. Wa-freakin-hoo. The baseball season was due to start in June. I did what every other mother in that situation would do. I panicked.

Mr. Vixen, being the trouper that he was, did the research, found out where to register him and we got him on a team. Due to Curt's birthdate he was placed on a roster of a team of 14, 15, and 16 year olds. We didn't know this until he showed up for practice and we saw how much BIGGER all the other kids were. Curt panicked.

I talked him into staying at practice and things worked out very well. This was the best team ever. All the guys welcomed him. They were encouraging and helpful. It was an absolute wonderful experience.

Right before their first game I talked to the coach. He told me how much he just loved having curt on the team. "Why?" I asked."He's good, but NOT the best player or the biggest kid on the team. What's his contribution?" He looked me straight in the eye and told me that "He's the heart of the team. He's got such enthusiasm and love for the game."
Imagine that. My kid. Heart of the team. I loved it. The team had many talented players on it, but none more promising than our pitcher. He's got it. We're gonna hear things about him. I know NOTHING of the game of baseball, least of all pitching but to watch J pitch is to watch a masterpiece in the making. His curveball rival's Botticelli's "VENUS" as a thing of beauty. NO ONE could hit it.

The team won first place in their division. Curt got his very first hit in one of the last few games. It was beautiful. Unfortunately it was a pop up that went right to the centerfielder. He got called out. but he got the hit. When he got back to the dugout afterward, he was hoisted aloft by several of the players, even the team parents were thrilled for him.

The father of J told me" I just love curt. If we were to have another kid, Curtis would be his name. J just loves it when he's having trouble on the mound and he hears Curt chattering encouragement at him from left field or right field."

I give my kid a lot of credit. He faced down pitchers and basemen that were huge compared to his still-growing size. He took some major setbacks and learned from them. Best of all, he wants to do the whole thing next year.
That kid has "heart".